Asked why no stricter measures have been taken, he replied that the measures are taken after suggestions from experts, while Cyprus has been implementing the stricter measures since July. He added that Omicron is unpredictable and is a phenomenon that happens all over the world and not only on our island.
He explained that as the Ministry of Health they know the "red lines", that is why "they make moves to increase the number of beds, they monitor the situation and when measures must be taken, they will be taken".
Regarding the validity of the self tests, he replied that there was a discussion about the specific tests and the percentage that is confirmed, emphasizing that according to the data of the Ministry, the confirmation rate is very high and this gives an accurate picture.
Regarding the measures in the nightclubs and whether the measures will be observed in the end, he replied that "it is not up to me but the experts to decide. It was a unanimous decision on these measures. On Tuesday we will see if we will take stricter measures. We give entrepreneurs a second chance to see if they will abide by them. We all know in this way if the measures are observed ". He pointed out that the possibility of closing the nightclubs worried the experts and there was the dilemma "nightclubs with rapid test or private spaces without control". He added that gatherings with more people would take place without our knowledge.
Returning to the issue of measures, he said that the hospitalizations will determine their tightening. "We do not have a big increase at the moment and I hope this remains. "85% of our fellow citizens who are in the ICU are unvaccinated."
For cases with a travel history, he said it would be easiest to stop all flights from the UK but there would be outcry that they would leave the children away from their families. He stressed that "they knew they were positive and transmitted the virus during the flight, so there were these chains, we did not expect this irresponsibility to come and get positive on the plane."
Asked about the possibility of a lockdown, he replied that "it is not our goal to decide in one day but to see the other options, we still have some time for this scenario. "Every day we see the data, we know what is happening, we take into account several factors before we see this possibility."
He explained that the goal is not to panic people but to give the message that we are in a difficult situation.